IMAX wants large screen version of next Harry Potter

Thanks to technological strides in recent years, IMAX has positioned itself to begin offering "first-run" movie premieres in its exclusive large-screen format. The company has announced the first such film will be Matrix Revolutions on Nov. 5, 2003 - but a certain teenage wizard is also on their wish list:

So far fans have been willing to pay up for the big screen experience. Theatergoers who saw the Imax version of Matrix Reloaded at the Imax Theater in the popular Sony multiplex at Broadway and W. 68th Street paid $13 a ticket, vs. $10 a ticket at a regular screen.

"Our strategy is to offer the consumer a premium product at a premium price," said Imax co-CEO Brad Wechsler. But Imax has to get more studios to sign on. It hasn't announced a big Hollywood deal in some time.

Also on IMAX's wish list: the next Harry Potter and Spider Man 2.

The company has also announced a new type of IMAX theater designed to be cost-effective for existing multiplex theaters, called IMAX MPX. The first theater is being built in Lansing, MI and hopes to open by November.